British Tennis Round-up: Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne are crowned World No.1
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Great Britain
NEC Wheelchair Masters
The Brits continue to rule the world as Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne top the year-end rankings in wheelchair tennis singles and doubles respectively.
It was a great week for both players who had been competing in the NEC Wheelchair Masters at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London.
Gordon regained his new World No.1 status by defeating France’s Stephane Houdet, 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-finals, becoming the first British player to ever hold the men’s singles World No.1 wheelchair tennis ranking.
His remarkable season ends as runner-up, as he fell 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, to Belgium’s Joachim Gerard. However, the new World No.1 will finish 2016 as an Australian Open, Wimbledon and Paralympics Champion.
Andy also went far in the tournament and was awarded third place in the singles quad division after defeating Korea’s Kyu-Seung Kim, 6-1, 6-2. He will end the year as the World No.3 singles player and will top the rankings board in doubles.
Keep up to date with all the latest British wheelchair tennis news!
Aegon County Cup Race
Team Surrey have been crowned the champions of the inaugural Aegon County Cup Race after promising performances across all seven County Cup events.
The award recognised the county who have gained the highest total of points from all events from March through to November.
Across all events, Surrey topped the board with 197, with Hertfordshire and Kent in second and third place respectively.
Next year's Aegon County Cup Race will commence in spring 2017.
Find out how your county could be in for a chance of winning the Aegon County Cup Race.
USA
Across the Atlantic, Farris Fathi Gosea clinched his third doubles Futures title of 2016 as he became champion of the USA F39 Futures with his partner, Hans Hach (MEX).
Farris and Hans sailed through to the final of the $25K ITF tournament in Texas with a 6-1, 6-1, semi-final triumph over Jimmy Bendeck USA) and Johannes Schretter (AUT).
Up against Juan Manuel Benitez Chavarriaga (COL) and Julian Lenz (GER) in the final, the second seeds were put under pressure, but came out on top with a straight sets, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Egypt
Men's
Jay Clarke achieved a remarkable result at the Egypt F35 Futures in Cairo, clinching his first ever Futures title.
A solid 6-0, 6-4 semi-final victory against Austria’s Dominic Weidinger, secured Jay a ticket to the final where he was up against China’s Laslo Urrutia Fuentes. After losing a tight tiebreaker in the first set, the 18-year old stormed to victory with a 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-1 win.
Women's
Meanwhile, in the 10K ITF ladies tournament, Suzy Larkin had a notable run with her partner, Veronica Miroscnichenko (RUS), as they reached the final of the doubles event.
Suzy and Veronica survived against second seeds Pei-Chi Lee (TPE) and Ines Murta (POR) but came out on top, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8, to gain a spot in the final. However, it wasn’t to be on the day as they fell 6-1, 6-4 to Barbara Bonic (SRB) and Jelena Stojanovic (AUS).
Qatar
There was doubles success for James Marsalek and Jonny O’Mara in Doha at the Qatar F4 Futures, as they took out the top three seeds to claim their first Futures titles together.
Upon receiving a bye into the second round, James and Jonny dug deep to clinch a 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-6 quarter-final victory against Daniel Altmaier (GER) and Ulises Blanch (USA).
The fourth seeds then faced Hungarian duo Gabor Borsos and Adam Kellner in the semi-final, where they were forced to fight back from a set down to take the win, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. The final contest came in the form of Austrian team Lenny Hampel and Sebastian Ofner, but a strong performance resulted in a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Following an impressive run in the singles event, Jonny made his way into a second final after a convincing 6-1, 6-2 semi-final victory over Mirko Cutuli. However, the 21 year old was denied the title, falling to Daniel Altmaier (GER), 7-5, 6-3.
